Day Zero
After booking in at the Puri Sunia Resort we met the group, made introductions and then commenced a rundown of the week's activities. Dave ran a video on Balinese culture and history which was very informative and then a superb meal to finish the day. This was a photography free, get to know each other evening with a relatively early finish. We would be up before dawn the next morning.
Day one
What a start to our Exotic Bali Experience. Up before sunrise we headed to the Pakerisan Valley with the view of the Volcanoes incl Mt Agung. Outside our accommodation at the Puri Sunia, one of the many 'Family Motorbikes' whizzed past. The traffic does take some getting used to!
The morning light was sweet and there was just enough mist to create a surreal landscape. Rice terraces were nearby and then, out of nowhere, a local duck farmer appeared with his following of comical ducks. Their antics are hilarious as they jostle for position and graze through rice paddies. We wandered along the road towards where our vehicles were parked up and came across a local wood carver with his young son watching on. We could have explored he village for hours but we needed to move on to our first ancient temple.
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| Family Motorbikes are very common |
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| Puri Sunia Resort |
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| Early misty morning start |
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| The Duck Farmer |
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| Family Motorbike |
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| Misty Jungle Valley |
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| Linda and Sue hard at work on day one |
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| The Woodworkers Son |
We arrived at Guning Kawi, and after making our way down hundreds of steps came to the temples built into the rock face. A local coconut seller provided a refreshing drink along the way cutting the coconut open with a few deft strokes of his long knife. The temples here are amazing (I'll probably over use that word during this report) and quite extensive. They are carved from the rock face and weathered and covered in moss and lichen. A photographers delight to be sure. Back up the stairs and off for a brief stop at Teggulung to photograph the terraced rice-fields.
We returned to Puri Sunia to check out and then we drove west to the Orphanage in Tabanan. This was another wonderful and moving experience. We handed over rice and other necessities to the children who were all very excited by the gifts. The joy on their faces when we showed them their photos on the camera's LCD screens was priceless. They laughed and giggled at themselves and, of course, that only led to us taking more photos of them.
The children then led us to an undercover area where they played the gamelan and other instruments and performed traditional dance for us. It wasn't long before they were taking each of us on stage to dance with them. Again, what a wonderful time.
Sadly the orphanage has had their funding cut back by 30% which means fewer children will be able to be accommodated. The orphanage is called 'SOS Childrens village Bali'. You can e mail bali@sos.or.id for more info. It costs $ 25 Aud per month to sponsor a child which covers meals, education, health and clothing. More sponsors and outside assistance means more children can be looked after. A truly worthy cause if ever there was one. More info here.. http://www.sos-childrensvillages.org/Where-we-help/Asia/Indonesia/Bali/Pages/default.aspx
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| Gerard shares a few images with the girls |
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| Geoff hands over some rice |
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| Dayak Dave handing over supplies to the children |
After leaving the orphanage we headed for sunset in Negara. We had planned to shoot sunset from a temple on the water's edge but we had stayed too long at the orphanage. No one was complaining though, and we ended up on a beach with jet black sand shooting sunset across mossy boulders. Not a bad start for day one. What a big day!
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| Stanley checks his settings |
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| Robyn photographing me photographing her. |
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| Andrew and Sandy checking out some video |
Day Two
In the morning we visited the Buffalo Races in Negara.
The buffalos are adorned in majestic fashion with an amazing display of colour and glitz. The racing is by way of two buffalo hitched to a chariot (basically a wooden box with wheels ) and is frenetic. The teams are sent off two at a time, one behind the other, separated by a distance of around 10 metres. If the second buffalo is closer than 10 metres at the other end then it wins or vice versa.
It was hot and dusty but we soon found out how amazing our guides from 'Take It Easy' were. It was almost telepathic but I swear every time I felt thirsty, Dewi, Ketut or Putu would be there with a bottle of water. Amazing. I really don't know how they did it.
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| Yes, they are very fast! |
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| A cool swim for the buffalo in the sea after the races |
The evening saw us presented with a local dance/Gamelan performance in the province of Jembrana.
This type of performance is called Jegog which is very unique to this area as the Gamelan is made of Bamboo.
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| The Gamelan |
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| Jegog Performance with bamboo Gamelan |
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| Legong Dance |
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| What a smart looking group of adventurers and explorers. |
Day Three
Next morning we went down to the Village/Beach area of Perancuk to photograph the Bugis Boats. They originated with the Bugis seafarers who are described as warrior sea merchants. I guess that's a nice way of saying pirate :-) In fact they used to paint the boats and themselves black so that were virtually invisible at night. They were greatly feared but today things are a little more civilised, not to mention colourful.
When we arrived the tide was not cooperating and the Bugis boats were well off shore out of camera range. A quick chat to a couple of local fisherman and we had hired their services and were heading out to the boats. A fleet of wonderfully coloured boats greeted us and we were able to get right up close for some terrific photo opportunities.
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| Women collecting seaweed from the sea floor with the Bugis boats off in the distance |
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| Can you and your mate give us a ride out to the Bugis boats???? |
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| Only too happy to take us out. |
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| Bugis Boat |
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| Bugis Boats |
Later that morning we attended The Buffalo races in the rice-fields. This was incredibly spectacular and turned into one of the highlights of the trip if not my life! Two buffalo are harnessed to a timber/bamboo device and the riders stand at the rear on a thin bamboo strut. There is a small rubber 'mudflap' under this which allows the contraption to aquaplane across the water/mud once the buffalo are at speed.
We photographed some awesome action with many spills and tumbles and then Dave, who was standing next to me at the time, said "I wonder if they would let us have a go". Well that was enough encouragement for me. A quick word to our guide/interpreter, Katut, and next thing I'm shirt off, bandana on and heading down the rice paddy behind two huge buffalo. Before I knew it we had reached the end and began turning and then I …was…off…. and racing!!! Those buffalo were fast and before I knew it I was down at the finish amidst great rounds of laughter, cheering and clapping. What a buzz!!
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| Your's truly mastering the buffalo |
After this experience we, Buffalo Master and Dayak Dave that is, took the group to the Menjangan resort for lunch and the Tower Restaurant with views over to East Java.
We stayed that night at the Adi Assri in Permutren and watched the Sunset from small boats over the Volcanoes of East Java on the Bali Sea.
Day four
After a morning Macro session at the Adi Assri, we visited the Reef Seen complex and did our bit to help turtle recovery program by releasing some turtles. The purposes of the Reef Seen Turtle Hatchery Project are firstly, to protect the living sea turtles and secondly, to increase the chances for turtle hatchlings to reach maturity. They buy newly laid eggs from locals who find a sea turtle's nest. By doing so, they encourage villagers not to kill or capture mature turtles, who are likely to return and lay more eggs. At the same time, turtle eggs that would otherwise have been eaten are protected and given the chance to hatch. The hatchlings are kept at Reef Seen in a holding tank, where they are fed and cared for until they are bigger and have a greater chance of survival in the open sea. Adventurers and explorers such as ourselves (and other tourists) then pay a fee to release a turtle. The monies raised go straight back into supporting the hatchery and recovery program. More info here.. http://www.reefseenbali.com/more/turtles.php
We then drove to the Village of Munduk where, after making way along a jungle track, we photographed the very spectacular Munduk Waterfall.
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| The ever obliging and caring Dewi with our water supply. |
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| Robyn and Carol having a tourist moment. Normally we are all adventurers and explorers, not tourists! |
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| Jungle trekking |
Later, after checking in at our resort in Munduk, we watched a special Dance called Topeng and the Robyn shuffle ( new dance just developed in the area).
Next morning we went to a viewpoint overlooking lakes Tamblingan and Buyan to photograph the low clouds and mist over the mountains and lake.
We then went by small boats across Lake Tamblingan to the small temple for a beautiful temple ceremony with people from 4 villages. The people here were, like everywhere, amazingly friendly. I went over to a small group and asked if I could photograph them and next thing they have me sitting with them and sharing their food with me. The kindness and generosity of the people of Bali was very humbling. We finished our day with a drive back to Ubud and the Puri Sunia.
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| Too cute! |
Day Six
The next morning, up early again for sunrise looking over Mount Agung, Abang and Batur.
We had breakfast at a temple called Pura Ulun Danu Batur. Amazing .. again .. We photographed the structures, sculptures and people going about their religious rituals.
We then went down to Lake Batur to photograph the fishermen and stumbled across a wedding photo shoot. The local photogs were only too happy to have us join in. It was wedding paparazzi !!!
That afternoon we photographed the Duck farmers near Ubud watched rice planting.
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| Dana having a laugh at all the silly photographers lying in the middle of the road to photograph ducks. |
The evening saw us in the village of Pejeng to watch the Legong Dance, Gamelan and the boys perform the Kecak dance in the rain. Another incredible experience and photo opportunity.
The boys of the village had been practicing for months for this presentation just for us. They were fantastic and entire dance had everyone spellbound. What an amazing way to conclude our 'Exotic Bali' experience. Check out the amazing costumes and dancing below that was put on just for our group! We were indeed very privileged.
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| It was all too much for some |
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| Boys and fire. Hmmm... |
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| The Kecak Dance. Amazing. |
Day Seven
We concluded our amazing journey with a relaxed morning at the Puri Sunia. A few image critiques and collecting files for our participants' eBook and all too soon we were saying our goodbyes.
New friendships had been forged over the week and there are many memories that really were 'once in a lifetime experiences'.
Aside from the exciting nature of the tour this was also a photography workshop. Our fellow adventurers and explorers went away with a greater understanding of their camera equipment and techniques and an overall improvement in the quality of their images.
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| Exotic Bali Class of 2012 Mark, Gerard, Sandy, Stanley, Linda, Nicki, Sue, Andrew, Carol, Robyn, Geoff, Dave |
A fantastic success allround and now we are about to do it all again with our 'Seven Day Bali Galungan Experience Photography Workshop and Tour' just around the corner at the end of March 2013.
I can't wait.
To find out more about Dayak Dave click here...
To find out more about the Buffalo Master click here...
To find out more about the 'Seven Day Bali Galungan Experience Photography Workshop and Tour', click here.... Only four spots left!!
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